Llull experiencing a lull
Having trouble keeping up with all the playoff tournaments and eliminations going on in Europe right now? BallinEurope’s not surprised at all. For those of you looking to quickly get your highlight fix, you’ve come to the right place!
Click on the “Continue reading…” link below for videos featuring the French and Spanish quarterfinals, plus another espectacularrrr Top 10 from the ACB and an awesome game-snuffer from New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig.
France’s LNB is about will be starting up its semifinal round once the Entente Orleanaise-Chorale Roanne Basket winner is determined tonight. In the meantime, here are highlights from the quarterfinals.
In Spain, three of the four quarterfinal series were two-game sweeps, with Caja Laboral Baskonia taking care of Esefa Estudiantes, Unicaja getting past Valencia, and FC Barcelona just torching Gran Canaria 2014 by a combined score of exactly 150-100.
The lone exception was the Real Madrid-Cajasol series, which saw Madrid come back after dropping game one at home to the no. 6 seed. Ettore Messina’s team continues to struggle (relatively), now 9-6 overall since meeting Barça in the Euroleague playoff round.
Real survived Cajasol in game three, 67-60, but the offense was again mostly slack and unimaginative. Sergio Llull managed just 4-of-13 shooting from the floor while Madrid altogether managed to shoot only 40% (25-of-62).
The top four have thus advanced to the semifinals; matchups there will see Barcelona taking on Unicaja, while red-hot Baskonia gets Real Madrid.
O, and here’s the usual stunning stuff from Spain in the form of an ACB-created “Top 10 Plays of the Quarterfinals.”
From Germany, here’s some defense that puts the “down” in “shutdown”: The New Yorker Phantoms cap the upset and advance by stifling EWE Baskets Oldenburg, who had nearly a full shot clock’s worth of time to get off a game-tying (or –winning) shot.
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